Today we will have a brief look at Corsair’s Neutron GTX 240GB Solid State Drive.

Corsair introduced SSD drives based on the new Link A Media Devices controller at Computex last year, just a tad before Link a Media Devices, aka LAMD, was acquired by Hynix. Corsair is the first outfit to bring an SSD based on the latest LAMD controller to the market.

This SSDs series consist of three models in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities. Neutron GTX series are now Corsair’s flagship consumer performance models, displacing Force GS series units from pole position.

LAMD's powerful LM87800 controller ensures competitiveness of the Neutron GTX Series, but let’s not forget about the rest of the spec.

The principle difference between the Neutron and Neutron GTX is that GTX uses Toggle NAND rather than ONFI Sync NAND, and therefore offers both a high random read and write throughput, as well as high sequential write throughput. Neutron GTX also supports Adaptive DSP technology to help increase NAND endurance.

Neutron GTX features the traditional 2.5-inch form factor, but measures just 7mm in height and it is weighs only 47g, making it perfect for slim notebooks.

We like the small format of packaging too. You will get 3.5-inch adapter for use in standard PC cases.

Rapid Sequential Read and Write Throughput – regardless of whether the data is compressed or not This is with any type of data, regardless of whether the data is compressible or incompressible. This gives Neutron GTX a significant advantage over SSDs that use on-the-fly compression, and therefore take a huge performance hit when writing compressed/incompressible files, such as encoded videos, compressed audio, and file archives.

Reliable and durable – for consistent performance over time All Neutron Series models incorporate LAMD's powerful eBoost™ on-the-fly error correction and advanced NAND management technologies. This improves the endurance of onboard flash memory, enhancing reliability and durability. The Neutron Series GTX drives also include adaptive DSP technology which maintains superior performance throughout the lifetime of the SSD.

Advanced NAND Management Advanced NAND Management incorporates wear-leveling, garbage collection and defect management. This includes background media scans to ensure that there is sufficient margin in each NAND block to provide continued reliable operation of the drive.

Adaptive DSP (GTX only) The A-DSP algorithm determines the optimum read threshold of the NAND with a minimum number of NAND reads. This provides not only enhanced endurance, but also helps to ensure consistent performance of the SSD even at end of life.

Microsoft® Windows® 7 TRIM support All Neutron Series GTX drives also support the Windows TRIM command, which allows them to store only the data they need and perform NAND optimization to ensure the fastest possible write speeds.

We used EVGA’s X79 FTW motherboard in this review. However, the board is only a temporary solution, as we are putting together a Z77-based test rig. We will update our results soon and hopefully we will add a few other high-end SSDs to the mix.

Compressible data is data that shrinks in size when lossless compression is applied, opposite to incompressible data which does not does not shrink or grow in size when compression is applied.

The LAMD LM87800 6Gb/s SSD controller handles compressible data very efficiently, and the ATTO test illustrates its best case behavior nicely. On the next page we will see that performance does not drop much even when it comes to dealing with incompressible information.

The read speed of Neutron GTX 240GB is impressive, topping out at nearly 557MB/s, while write speed is very close, with nearly 503MB/s.

The AS-SSD sequential benchmark, which uses incompressible data for all of its transfers illustrates performance nicely. Controllers that use on-the-fly compression for example will show big drop in sequential write speed when handling incompressible data.

The overall score of AS SSD benchmark is really good, and it indicates that the Neutron GTX 240GB drive is a good performer.

New Corsair’s Neutron GTX series SSDs use the new LAMD's LM87800 controller and as our benches prove, the drives have a lot to offer.

This is the first LAMD LM87800-based drive we had a chance to test and we are happy to report that we could not identify any issues. The Neutron GTX 240GB ends up with fast access times and very good performance in all scenarios, with compressible or incompressible data, in random or sequential mode.

Of course, reliability is a very important aspect of any storage device, but we had the drive for a couple of days so we will update this preview later on, as soon as we get our new test rig up and running, and complete a series of more extensive tests.

So far so good, we are impressed. The asking price in Europe is €213, which is about €25 more than an OCZ Vertex 4 drive. The performance offered by the Neutron GTX probably justifies the premium and we hope to put the two drives head to head soon, so stay tuned.

Corsair has announced a new addition to its SSD lineup, the Neutron Series SSDs.

It features a rather unexpected Link_A_Media Devices (LAMD) controller that, according to Corsair, offers super high random read/write performance. The new Neutron Series SSD lineup will feature standard Neutron SSDs available in 120 and 240GB capacities as well as the Neutron GTX SSDs with higher write speeds.

The entire new Neutron Series is based on LAMD's L87800 SATA 6Gbps controller and feature on-the-fly error correction and advanced NAND management technologies that will improve endurance and provide enhanced reliability and durability. The Neutron GTX SSDs will also feature adaptive DSP technology that should prevent performance degradation.

The standard Neutron SSD series will, as noted, be available in 120 and 240GB capacities and offer sequential read and write speeds of up to 555MB/s and 370MB/s. The random read and write, something that Corsair is bragging about with its Neutron Series, is set at quite an impressive 90k IOPS read and 85k IOPS write. The Neutron GTX Series SSDs will be available in 120, 240 and 480GB capacities and offer quite higher sequential speeds of up to 555MB/s for read and 500MB/s for write. The random read and write for these SSDs is set at 90k.

The new Nutron SSD lineup will be packed in a standard 7mm 2.5-inch form factor and be backed by a five-year warranty. The entire lineup is scheduled for July and pricing will be announced upon a product release.